


Stars

by sugarandspace



Series: Flufftober 2018 Drabbles [9]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, Childhood Memories, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Stargazing, idk how to tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 19:21:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16248194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarandspace/pseuds/sugarandspace
Summary: Alec and Magnus go stargazing, and the location takes Alec by surprise





	Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Give Jenna "stars" as a prompt and the fic will end up being three times longer than the previous ones.

It was early afternoon and Magnus and Alec were walking on the streets of New York, enjoying their rare day off as they walked back from their late lunch. They were walking back to Magnus’ flat, or so Alec thought, until the conversation came to a natural pause and Magnus spoke.

“I want to take you somewhere,” he said, linking their hands together.

“Where are we going?” Alec asked, because really, he had long ago stopped trying to predict Magnus’ ideas.

“You’ll see,” Magnus said with a mischievous smile on his lips as he walked them to an alley where they were hidden from curious eyes. With a graceful wave of his hand he created a portal, and Alec hold on tightly when they stepped through.

Alec stumbled a little as they stepped out of the portal, the sudden darkness throwing him off-balance before his angelic reflexes kicked in and he settled his footing. Magnus chuckled a little next to him, and Alec was glad it was dark out there and his blush wasn’t visible.

“You could have warned me,” Alec said, trying to sound reprimanding but probably failing greatly.

“I could have,” Magnus replied. “But where’s the fun in that?”

Alec huffed as Magnus gave his hand a squeeze before letting go. He took a moment to take in his surroundings and it seemed like they were on top of a building. It was dark outside, the stars shining brightly above them.

As his eyes got used to the dark and his focus shifted back to Magnus, he realised he had used his magic to bring them a blanket that was spread on the ground, an amount of pillows on top of it putting even Magnus’ bed to shame.

“You took me stargazing?” Alec asked, the awe in his voice clear. He liked to look at the stars but it had been a while since he’d purposely went outside to watch at them.

“When you are a warlock time zones are on your side,” Magnus replied with a smile, obviously enjoying Alec’s reaction. He nodded towards the pillows. “After you.”

Alec did as he was told, a stupid smile on his face as he sat down and got comfortable, laying against the pillows and welcoming Magnus next to him.

“This is amazing,” he told Magnus, taking his hand in his. “I love this.”

“I’m happy to hear that,” Magnus replied, snapping his fingers and making another blanket appear, covering them from the cold night air.

“You see that constellation there, that looks like a cross?” Alec asked, pointing to the ten bright stars right on top of them. “It’s called Northern Cross, or Cygnus, which means ‘Swan’.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you were an astrology nerd,” Magnus said with surprise in his tone. 

“You known, fighting isn’t the only thing I know,” Alec replied teasingly. 

“Oh, don’t I know that,” Magnus agreed, patting Alec’s arm.

They continued looking a the stars, pointing out constellations to each other as they spotted them. At some point they had moved, unconsciously gravitating closer to each other, Alec’s head ending up on Magnus’ chest and Magnus’ arm safely around him.

“Now that I know how much you like stars, I know we need to do this more often,” Magnus said. “I know great places where the sky is so clear you can see all the stars possible to spot with a naked eye.”

“Do you do this often?” Alec asked Magnus, because the amount of knowledge Magnus had about the constellations and the legends associated with them was a big clue that it was more than casual appreciation he had for the lights in the sky.  

“I guess you could say that,” Magnus said, his hand coming up to card through Alec’s hair as Alec held the other in his own, their fingers entwined on Magnus’ stomach. “I find them calming. I’ve been living a long time, and a lot of things have changed during that time. Not the stars. They’re the same as they were when I was a child, and they haven’t lost any of their beauty since.” 

“I think I can see what you mean,” Alec said, his voice low in the darkness. 

“Hmm,” Magnus hummed. “They are also a proof that there’s always some light even in the darkest of places, no matter how small.”

They were quiet for a moment, just enjoying the moment, until a thought came to Alec’s head.

“Where are we?” He asked. He’d been so distracted with everything he hadn’t stopped to think where they were, even though it seemed like they were on the other side of the world, if the time of the day was something to draw conclusions from.   

He felt Magnus tense at the question, and Alec was confused as he felt Magnus move from underneath him. He was about to apologise, - for what, he didn’t know -, but it seemed like he had ruined the moment.

“Magnus-,” he started and sat up, watching as Magnus offered his hand to him, a gentle smile on his face.

“Come look,” he said, and Alec let himself be helped up. They walked towards the edge of the building, right to the low brick wall that went around the roof, preventing them from falling. “This is where I come most often when I want to look at the stars. Like I said, it has familiarity, even though the place around has changed.”

“Are we…” Alec started, his question fading as he took in the view from the top of the building.

“Welcome to Batavia,” Magnus said, a faraway look in his eyes. “Or as they nowadays call it, Jakarta.”

Alec glanced at Magnus, his mouth opening in silent shock. “You took me to where you’re from?”

He turned to look at the busy city underneath them, taking it in. From the looks of it they weren’t quite in the center of the city, but the road going past the building was busy, even at this hour. There were a lot of buildings, most of which looked like apartment buildings similar to the one they were on top of.

“A lot has changed, it’s barely the same place as it was all those years ago,” Magnus explained, leaning forward and resting his arms on the brick wall. He kept his eyes forward as he talked. “But geographically yes, this is where I was born.”

Alec didn’t know how to respond. Magnus had taken him all over the world, to faraway places Alec never thought he’d get to see with his own eyes, and now they were in Indonesia, which was pretty much as far away as they could get from New York. But this was more, this was undoubtedly important to Magnus, a place that holds way more meaning than a villa in Southern France or a cabin in Lapland. This was where Magnus was born and where he lived his childhood, this was where his roots were.

“How far away are we from where your home used to be?” Alec asked, clearing his throat against the emotion that had found its way there.

“You see that park on the left?” Magnus asked, nodding towards a grassy area bit further down the road. It was dark and Alec couldn’t see clearly with just the light from the streetlamps, but he could see some trees and a fountain with benches around it.

“There?” Alec asked, and watched as Magnus nodded in response.

“I bought the land years ago and donated it to the city with one condition,” Magnus explained. “It must be kept as a park. A lot has changed, but I didn’t want to see another gray building rise there too.”

Alec stepped closer to Magnus and brought his hand up to wrap it around Magnus’ waist. His tone had grown quiet, lacking the airiness his voice usually carried. Alec didn’t know what to say, so he hoped his presence would help some. It seemed like he was doing something right, when Mangus leaned to his body before he continued.

“There used to be a lake over there,” Magnus said, pointing to the right. “It dried a couple centuries ago. I say good riddance, it held no good memories for me.”

Alec didn’t need to ask, Sometimes Magnus still woke up in cold sweat and lungs gasping for air.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that things change, but not all change is bad,” Magnus said. “As an immortal you have to accept in to be able to keep going.”

Alec couldn’t say that he knew what Magnus was talking about, the world Magnus was born into was worlds apart to the current one they were living in. What he started to think though, was how it was going to affect him if he were to become immortal someday in the future. A thought that had came to his head more and more often lately. He decided not think too far into it right now because it was a topic for the future and he needed to stay in the present.

“Thank you for taking me here,” Alec said sincerely, turning to look at Magnus in the eyes. “Thank you for trusting me with this.”

“Thank you, Alexander,” Magnus replied, and he didn’t need to explain. The look of love and appreciation in his eyes told it all, and then some. Alec felt honored to be here, and knew that he was one of the few who had.

“Do you wanna go back to look at the stars?” Alec asked. “You’re shivering, let’s get you warm.”

Magnus nodded and they returned to their mountain of pillows, laying down and covering themselves with the blanket. Except this time their roles were reversed, when Magnus scooted closer and laid his head on Alec’s chest, his gaze back at the night sky.

“I’m going to hog all your body heat,” Magnus said as he tangled their legs together.

“I’m not complaining,” Alec replied and chucked a little when Magnus seemed to move even closer.

“See those stars there?” Magnus asked, changing the conversation back to stars. “Are you familiar with the story about Eros and Psyche?”

That’s how they ended up spending the night, talking about stars and anything else they brought to mind. They had dinner while the sun rose over the horizon, hiding the stars with it’s bright shine. It had been a night well spent, or technically a day, and as they portalled back to Magnus’ flat that was dark in the New York night, they both went to bed with their hearts full.

**Author's Note:**

> I made it 8 days until I brought angst to the table :D I couldn't resist, and it has a good amount of fluff as well so I hope it still counts as a Flufftober fic :D  
> [Let's chat on tumblr!](https://sugarandspace.tumblr.com)


End file.
